Thursday, March 3, 2011

Pakistan's Defensive And Timid Approach Against Canada

The reason for Pakistan's timid and defensive approach against Canada is hard to fathom. Ahmad Shahzad is still unable to come to terms with a big stage like World Cup and has failed to express himself. He is one of aggressive players in the tournament, but has so far been the most subdued player on view in this World Cup. Mohammad Hafeez tried to be a little more aggressive than his natural capability, and could not last long. Kamran Akmal has not played his natural game so far. Kamran Akmal is least effective in the middle order. Kamran Akmal is more effective as an opener and in the late middle order, more so in the late middle order.

After the fourth wicket fell in form of Younis Khan, Misbah and Umar got together in rearguard action. You cannot blame Misbah for playing a sedate innings when the team was in dire straits. Pakistan is absolutely wasting Umar Akmal at #6. Pakistan should learn a few lessons from India and recently England. India has reaped huge rewards by promoting Tendulkar as an opener. England too realized the importance of having a talented and aggressive player like Kevin Pieterson at the top of the order. Pakistan should open with Akmal brothers or swap the positions the two Akmal brothers are batting currently. Umar will be more effective than Kamran Akmal at #3 where Kamran Akmal is batting currently. Whereas Kamran will be more dangerous at #6 where Umar is batting.

The best of Kamran Akmal has come when he batted in the late middle order. He has often provided Pakistan with killer punch in the late middle order that has won them many games. The second best of Kamran has come when he opened the innings. Kamran is least effective in the middle order and these facts should be realized by Pakistan before they cost them a possible World Cup title. Pakistan can swap places between Mohammad Hafeez and Kamran Akmal.  

Afridi Could Emulate Imran Khan In World Cup 2011

Few would dispute the fact that Afridi is the most exciting cricketer to have played One Day format of the game. Afridi, Sachin Tendulkar, and Jacques Kallis are three most deserving cricketers to hold the World Cup 2011 trophy in their hands. Afridi cannot be put in the same class as Imran Khan, but he has been an impact player for Pakistan for as long as he has been part of Pakistan cricket. He has been as integral to Pakistan team as was Imran Khan during his time. We have not seen a charismatic cricketer like Imran Khan may be save Waseem Akram. If there is one cricketer who can match the charismatic traits of Imran Khan, it is Afridi. Afridi also has a realistic chance winning the World Cup 2011 for Pakistan and emulating Imran Khan.

Afridi has emerged as leading player in this World Cup grabbing as many as 14 wickets in three games and ended up man of the match twice out of these three games. If Afridi continues to perform in similar manner for the rest of the tournament, it will boost the performance of other extremely talented Pakistan cricketer, and if that happens, nothing can stop Pakistan from going all the way during the 2011 World Cup.

If Pakistan wins the World Cup 2011, it will be a fitting achievement for a unique and most exciting cricketer of this format of the game. The most exhilarating cricketer of the format deserve to hold the most coveted trophy of the format.

This World Cup Could Be A Diamond In Sachin's Bejeweled Career

Sachin Tendulkar, Jacques Kallis, and Shahid Afridi deserved most to be part of the World Cup winning squad than any other single cricketer in this World Cup, and I firmly believe that of the three teams being represented by these three fabulous cricketers will win the World Cup. The World Cup winner will be one among India, Pakistan, and South Africa.

Sachin has had a fabulous career. I do not agree with the claims of Sachin being the greatest batsman of his time. Among the batsmen I have watched a lot, I would rate Lara and Adam Gilchrist as more capable batsmen than Sachin Tendulkar and among Indians, Sehwag, Yuvraj, and Dhoni are as much capable batsmen as Sachin if not better than him. I also feel there have been at least five batsmen in the past who were better than Sachin and as many who were equally as good. What sets Sachin apart from all these cricketers is his maturity beyond his years that he displayed during his entire career that began at the tender age of 16. The way Sachin has handled the super stardom is a material of a fantasy book. Just see how his equally talented colleague Vinod Kambli went into oblivion. Kambli was no less than Sachin as a batsman, and of course scored a couple of double hundreds in test cricket long before Sachin achieved the milestone. Kambli averaged better in one day format of the game when both were playing in the middle order. Still, Just see the difference between Kambli and Sachin. Kambli is not even spoken about when people talk about great Indian batsmen of all time, while Sachin's admirers often hail Sachin as whatever they like.

If one has to pick a single cricketer in this tournament who deserved the World Cup most, it probably has to be Sachin Tendulkar. Apart from holding records that come from talent and longevity and his talent, Sachin also deserved the World Cup because the number of people that want the World Cup for Sachin are far greater than the number of people who want the World Cup for any other single cricketer in the whole World. 100 One Day International hundreds are also in offing for Sachin Tendulkar. If Sachin scores his 100th hundred during this World Cup tournament and India goes onto win the trophy, I would assume it will be national holiday for at least one week in India. He should bid adieu to cricket if he manages 100 hundreds during the World Cup and India goes onto win the World Cup, which will not only be a great farewell to one of the outstanding careers, but it will also mean opportunities for the players waiting in the wings.

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Does Anyone Still Think One Day Cricket Is Boring

There have been calls for abandoning One Day Cricket to preserve test format of the game. The calls for doing away with One Day cricket increased after the advent and huge success of T20. Many cricket experts believe that One Day format of the game should be sacrificed.


The World Cup is only into its second week and we have been treated to some spectacular entertainment. We have already been treated to a handful of close games and the two of the latest were cliffhangers to say the least. Experts have already been proved wrong on more than one occasion. Everyone was picking India to be clear favorites against England. It proved out to be the tightest game of the World cup and ended up in a tie. Expert seemed to be being proved right when India won the toss and went on their business with the bat. But the game turned out to be a thriller in the end swinging between the two sides all the time.


After the game between India and England I thought the best game of the tournament has already been played, but I was proved wrong the very next day. As one can expect of the experts, they are no better than an amateur in predicting the result. Everyone picked England as the out and out favorite. Nobody would have thought Ireland would beat England and not the least when England compiled as many as 327. To make it an absolute fantasy material, the Ireland lose their first wicket in form of their captain with nothing on the board. They kept on losing wickets and were down to 111 for the loss of five wickets. The sixth wicket partnership between Kevin O'Brien and Alex Cusack saw the Ireland total jump from 111/5 to 273-6. Kevin O'Brien's innings was embedded with exquisite hits to the boundary and over  the rope.


After what we have seen today from Kevin O'Brien's bat people should stop listing the greatest batsmen of all time. You may be able to set apart the likes of Viv Richards, Brian Lara, and Gilchrist, but there are some much talent in the World that you can never make a list.


Coming back to our original topic, people should stop talking about the survival of the One Day format of the game. The number of One Day games being played these days can be truncated, but you can never do away with One Day format of the game completely. 



Pathetic To See Cricket Analysis On Indian News Channels

Rubbish is the word that sums up the analysis of cricket World Cup and cricket related issues on Indian news channels. The Indian media goes overboard on cricket-related discussions. There is exaggeration of praise for some players when they do something brilliant. Some players are called 'Gods' who are not as mighty as many of the human beings or their contemporaries. Whenever something goes wrong, the news channel simply go overboard in criticizing the players. The so called experts, most of whom are former cricketers too sound immature most of the time in their analysis.

It is a festival whenever India achieves a victory, and that is well and good. But it is an absolute doom whenever India performed badly and this World Cup is no exception. Before the contest between India and England, there was so much hype around the game. The prediction of the experts rarely come true. I did not see many experts picking England favorites for the game. Sidhu gave India 80% chance of winning the game between England and India. In fact England came very close to winning the contest despite losing the toss and having to chase a big total. Eventually they managed a tie.

The scenes were contrasting on the News Channels after the tie between India and England. The cricketers who were being celebrated in advance as likely heroes who would won India the game till before the match began were heavily criticized after the contest concluded. If Indian cricketers have watched the the program in which their performance Versus England was evaluated and criticized, I cannot imagine the kind of effect that would have on these Indian cricketers and how it would effect their performance in rest of the World Cup tournament.

What is more painful is the way Indian media started celebrating an Indian victory even before the start of the World Cup 2011. Some people want it for Sachin Tendulkar. Steve Waugh sharply criticize the very need to win the World cup for an individual cricketer. He rightly said that India should win it for the county and not for an individual cricketer. How can India call a cricket as a God who could not get a single World Cup for his country despite being one of the few to represent the country in as many as five edition. Moreover if one has to celebrate an Indian victory in advance why is the competition held and what  is the purpose of other teams participating in the tournament.

Being patriotic and ambitious is one thing, but you got to be rational in your thought process and approach. It is often embarrassing to see the Indian media asking some irrational questions to the foreign cricketers. These foreign cricketers are more professional and from an entirely different culture. The Indian media being ridiculously obsessed with their cricketers during the analysis involving the foreign cricketers makes one feel abashed.